“Give the out-of-school youth access to education.”
This was the challenge of Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro to members of the Philippines Business for Social Progress (PBSP) during their 27th Visayas membership meeting yesterday at Casino Espanol de Cebu.
Luuistro asked companies to undertake a census to identify out-of-school youths in the community.
“It is achievable in the Visayas. If you get the name and address, give the list Department of Education -Visayas,” he said so a program can be designed for the youths under the Alternative Learning System (ALS).
In 2008, there were 2.9 million out-of-school youth Filipinos that ages 5 to 15 years old, he said. The number went down to 1.2 million in 2013.
“I am hoping that in the last two years (until present) the number of out-of-school youth children would be below a million,” he added.
For the K to 12 reform program implemented this year, Luistro urged the business community to engage public high schools beyond donating classrooms by volunteering to teach.
“We allow practitioners and part-timers who have the expertise to teach in senior high school,” he said.